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Because it was an outline application, the developer has not stipulated the breakdown of houses (i.e. whether they will have one, two, three or four bedrooms).

The site was previously the subject of an application for 100 homes in 2014, which was also turned down by the district council.

Why did the district council turn it down?

The council turned down the plans on June 13, on several grounds:

Visual intrusion: development manager David Norris said that the site's topography and "prominent location... would result in a visually intrusive development"

Loss of agricultural land: the site is graded 2 and 3a, meaning that its quality ranges from good to very good, thereby rendering its loss to housing "unacceptable"

Loss of trees and local ecology: as well as losing a number of "important, designated" trees, the developer had not carried out bat and dormouse surveys, meaning that the developer had "an unacceptable potential to have an adverse impact upon ecological assets".

In addition to these reasons, the 2014 plans for 100 homes were turned down because of doubts over whether Bayford Hill could accommodate extra traffic without undermining road safety.

What is the developer's case?

Bayford Hill is part of the Blackmore Vale (pictured in 2008) (Image: Fran Stothard/ Bristol News and Media)

Neal Jillings of Jillings Hutton Planning - which is acting on behalf of Oxford Law Ltd - has laid out the appeal case in an initial statement, published on the council's website.

He said: "There is an acknowledged lack of a demonstrable five-year supply of housing land [in south Somerset].

"Wincanton is acknowledged as one of the primary and sustainable locations for housing growth in the adopted 2015 Local Plan, and also in previous iterations of policy.

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"The council has chosen to allocate very little housing development at Wincanton on the misconception that there currently exists an imbalance between jobs and residents.

"This has been acknowledged as a mistaken perception, with no evidential backing by the Planning Inspectorate in its 2014 report. In addition, the council's own evidence base disputes this perception, with 4.6 per cent of the jobs in the district being found at Wincanton, which has 3.1 per cent of the population.

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"In broad terms, the case is made that there is no objection on technical grounds that would demonstrate adverse impacts that would be of the order to significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits that the appeal proposal brings."

Will there be a public inquiry? And when will the decision be made?

The Planning Inspectorate may hold a public inquiry over the appeal, but a decision on this has not yet been taken - nor has the date for the final decision been set.

Anyone who wishes to make a comment on the appeal should visit www.acp.planninginspectorate.gov.uk, searching for reference APP/R3325/W/17/3180025, by November 8 (PLEASE NOTE: Somerset Live is not responsible for the content of external sites).

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If the appeal was upheld, Mr Jillings said that a reserved matters application (finalising the layout, access and make-up of the houses) would come forward by autumn next year.

If this was approved, the developer would look to begin construction in spring 2019, with all homes to be completed and delivered in phases by the end of 2022.

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